LAN Centers

[Minerva]

nowhereland.net, Brawley, CA Clan of the Bloody Fist (CBF)...

Remember Jake/Jenny AKA pimpdaddy/nowhereman. I think Zap is still around here. He was one of the low ping bastards on the Q3 demo server!

 

[Udgnim]

Depends where you live, out by me there are a couple huge ones that seem to do very well. One has been open for like 8 years and is always packed. They're open 24/7 and host all sorts of tournaments and other things.

This one's at a mall, where the rent is damn high. They must have 100 PC's, a very nice spot. http://www.howies.com/home.php?location=M2

The ones around here that went out of business did so because they weren't ran correctly. Howies is $5 an hour or $13 for an all day pass, and they stay busy.

wow that place looks nice

looks like the owner turned his place into an experience rather than just some regular PC cafe

 

[Zap]

Would opening up an LAN gaming center be a viable business?

Just like any business, it can be. Just like any business, most will fail in the first year or two. You basically have to treat it as a business and not as a place to hang out (it can be, just better be a solid business).

Around here, I know of two that are still in business (in malls) and several that went out of business (including one that was in a mall). In fact, I'm friends with a guy that ran the most recent one near me that went out of business. It was successful, but he decided (against my recommendation) to move to a larger location that had just over twice the overhead. That killed it.

nowhereland.net, Brawley, CA Clan of the Bloody Fist (CBF)...

Remember Jake/Jenny AKA pimpdaddy/nowhereman. I think Zap is still around here. He was one of the low ping bastards on the Q3 demo server!

I'm still here.

My business in Brawley was a computer shop. We did sales, repair, offered dial-up and broadband internet services (before any big companies in our area) and we had a few computers for rent.

Clan of the Bloody Fist was my Q3 Demo clan. Well, not sure if it was really mine, but I owned the server, recruited members, kept up the web presence.

Nowhereman (who enjoys a lifetime ban from here) ran my quake server as well as his server (nowhereland.net) which we hosted at my shop. That's why we were so low ping, because we would be gaming from the LAN with the server.

 

[dawheat]

I wonder if exclusively non-PC centers would have a better chance of success b/c it should be cheaper. Playing Halo or COD seems to naturally attract group play between friends and have larger user bases.

A TN screen (low lag and price) + Xbox + Xbox live seems to be substantially cheaper than a gaming computer.

Plus if you have modular seating where different sized groups can play together in a more social settings (i.e. sitting in a square with your friends + some tables to hold drinks/food). Also replacing a controller that has a drink spilled on it is relatively cheap.

Another positive - you only need to upgrade hardware with every platform change (5-6 years) vs constantly upgrading to support newer games.

 

[QueBert]

$10, that's pretty cheap, haha. What year was that?

a few years ago, most have day passes for $15'ish tops. This place was $2 an hour with no multi hour discount. My area has about 5 net gaming centers that are still going, all but 1 have been open for 4-5+ years. $10 for 5 hours is pretty typical at any I've been too.

 

[S Freud]

There's a place in my old hometown called Cat6 that does console and PC gaming. I've never gone inside, just peaked in the place while walking by. Its right next door to a movie theater. Seems like a good market for parents that want to drop their kids off to go see a movie by themselves, or do some shopping. Its been there for 4+ years.

 

[PingSpike]

There's a place in my old hometown called Cat6 that does console and PC gaming. I've never gone inside, just peaked in the place while walking by. Its right next door to a movie theater. Seems like a good market for parents that want to drop their kids off to go see a movie by themselves, or do some shopping. Its been there for 4+ years.

I read some complaints from people who ran LAN Centers on another forum where a lot of them had parents dumping of their young children while they shopped and expected them to be babysat. Then the parents started raging when the kids wandered off and couldn't be found. They eventually just started calling the cops reporting an abandoned child which put a stop to it pretty quickly!

 

[Zap]

I wonder if exclusively non-PC centers would have a better chance of success b/c it should be cheaper.

Best bet would be a combination. The last LAN center near me that went out of business was doing fine with both PCs and one console station (multiple consoles to choose from). For whatever reason after they moved, they ditched the consoles.